Newspapers getting shut out of online comics?

The Online Journalism Review has a great article on the plight of Online Newspaper Syndicates and their failure to make a splash in online comics. While the comics sections on online newspapers have been a huge success with the readers, its turning those readers into profit that seems to be the problem. Will there be a day when you can’t get your Cathy or Ziggy fix online?

There is no clear way to profit from comic strips online. "The revenue from banner ads relative to syndication costs doesn’t make it cost effective," says Scott Clark, vice president of HoustonChronicle.com, which posts 105 comics to its site. "The comics as a stand-alone piece are not a huge profit center. The potential is there, but that would be as part of a scheme of overall marketing … Long-term, we see the comics package as one of the areas where we could get registration and subscriptions.